Hundreds of motorcyclists arrive in Rancho Cucamonga for ride to D.C.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Hundreds of veterans and military supporters have arrived in Rancho Cucamonga for the 25th annual Run for the Wall motorcycle ride to Washington D.C. in honor and remembrance of military prisoners of war and those missing and killed in action.

Participants arriving to Rancho Cucamonga have been registering in the parking lot of the Hilton Garden Inn and plan to meet up at the JCPenney parking lot at Victoria Gardens on Wednesday morning for departure east later that day.

The 10-day ride is a dramatic sight for anyone coming upon the motorcade. Two groups of about 500 to 600 riders start off on either route that will travel through the southern and central states. From end to end, each rider motorcade can be up to 5 miles long. There are two routes east, both beginning from Rancho Cucamonga, with about 30 riders to a "platoon" and about a 150 feet gap between platoons.

The two groups join together as one in Virginia and arrive in Washington D.C. on Friday, May 24. A portion will be able to attend a ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier on May 25. The riders will also gather together at the Lincoln Memorial and walk to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

"It's a very moving experience and some still can't handle it individually, so they have a brotherhood to help them go through the emotions which can overtake them," said former Rancho Cucamonga mayor and city treasurer Jim Frost, who served in Vietnam. The ride will be Frost's tenth time participating.

The ride honors American military prisoners of war, and those killed and missing in action during war. Many who ride are Vietnam veterans. The event was started by Vietnam veterans to honor service members in that conflict, but today, the event honors military members from all conflicts. Participants have also served in Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and others are active duty personnel, friends and family members.

"It's a healing process for all of our riders, to welcome them home," said Vietnam veteran Ray McDowell, president of the Run for the Wall organization. "We ride for all the riders who can't be here; the ones left behind. We want the government to bring them home and we want closure for those guys as a well."

Another key mission for riders is to raise public awareness toward pushing the government to locate, identify and relocate the bodies of service members killed in action and still unaccounted for in places like Vietnam and Korea, organizers said.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done," said Stan Handley, coordinator for the central route. "There's in excess of 77,000 who are unaccounted for.

When you start looking at Korea, Vietnam and the cold war, you're pushing about 83,000 to 84,000 people."

Southern route coordinator Laurie Clay said the aim is to spread awareness in order to shore up repatriation efforts.

"We want to make sure the funding doesn't get cut," Clay said. "One of the things with Vietnam is the soil is deteriorating the bones and remains tot he point that in 5 to 6 years they're not going to identify that DNA any longer so it's imperative we do it now."